Sunday, October 8, 2017

CCA and Troika ranking system & military structure

NOTES:
What follows is an outline of the unit hierarchy /command structure for CCA units. This hierarchy was assisted by conversations with military personnel. Thank you to contributors for their insight- any misunderstandings inherent here are mine and not theirs.

First, an overall note on Anduruna and military structure at the present point in the story.

They haven't had an official military for centuries because, as far as the populace is concerned, there are no significant foreign states to comprise a threat. There is one that the government is aware of, but a longstanding treaty and significant distance has kept things amiable for all of living memory. So the CCA has developed more as a police force than a military one, and the Troika are essentially reinventing things from the ground up.

HIERARCHY:

CCA Platoon:
18 members
2 Squads of 8 men each.
2 Fireteams of 4 men each form each squad.
One member of each fire team is a Fire Team Leader, and one member of each squad is also the Squad leader.
1 Platoon Commander
1 Transportation officer to handle the Gnossus & troop carrier.

If multiple platoons are deployed their sergeants are commanded in the field by a Lieutenant.
District lieutenants are commanded by a district Major who generally does not deploy.
District Majors are under the command of the office of Guard Captain of Anduruna.

District Major offices have administrative staff, some of which may carry the rank of lieutenant even though they are not combat personnel. These include liasons with local police forces, CCA detective units (distinct from local law enforcement), internal affairs, and various necessary bureaucratic positions.

The office of the Guard captain has administrative staff, some of which carry the rank of lieutenant or even colonel- placing colonels higher in rank than the Majors who command districts. Various roles include those within the local district offices, and additional unnecessary bureaucratic positions due to constantly increasing annual budgets.

The shock troopers do not answer to local law enforcement or local civic bodies, and take their orders directly from the Central City Authority offices of the Guard Captain. This said, district shock troopers work closely with local law enforcement by necessity- most local branches are prohibited from deploying lethal force or possessing lethal weaponry, with rare exceptions licensed after much paperwork- so the shock troopers are a necessary but unaccountable component of law enforcement at the local level.

Local law enforcement tends to be comprised of 'officers,' and the term 'officer' is often used colloquially for anyone in uniform / CCA combat roles.

Field Commander: Lieutenant
District Commander: Major
Head of the CCA troopers: Guard Captain.

Gnossus are numbered, and naming them is prohibited- although this rule is often ignored, and not strictly enforced.

The shock troopers also utilize an animal which has a highly developed sense of smell in their detective division. (Note: Not ryuu-nekos? Maybe something we haven't developed yet.)

As for the Troika:

Their structure is currently dispersed. Prior to the start of Prelude, they had a more cohesive structure- but they were compromised, and the organization suffered catastrophic damage.

The survivors have rebuilt it- but in a different manner. There are very few central characters with access to relevant information about local leaders- Scinter, Igrath. They could be designated as generals.
Directly below them are lieutenants. Characters like Vi, Bobby, Tia... Local leaders. After an initial training period, the lieutenants occasionally meet up at the remote bases for training exercises. But never all the lieutenants at the same meeting- only Scinter and Igrath could list everyone.

The lieutenants then recruit more Troika members from their respective communities, and seed independent cells of operatives, trained by the lieutenants. In addition to these cells are a number of direct operatives and sleeper agents recruited, one way or another, by Scinter, Nainso, and Igrath, riddling the CCA power structure.

The general Troika strategy is to train in secret and gather intel on Dark Dreamkeepers that have infiltrated the CCA- so, when the time arrives, they can execute simultaneous strikes to kill their antagonists, and take the Troika public to serve as a defense force against the oncoming Nightmares.

Once public, their plan is to implement a loose hierarchy of responsibilities among the lieutenants- one of the primary ones being to train citizens, en masse in the use of their powers, to create an army capable of repelling a large-scale nightmare assault.

The general contrasts between the CCA and Troika:

The CCA is more about top-down command and obedience within an established hierarchy. Initiative is often discouraged, as liability is a concern and obedience is prized.

The Troika, by contrast, foster initiative and responsibility among their operatives, by necessity. Their lieutenants and soldiers have to be capable of operating unsupported and, if comms are cut, undirected. So the Troika organization has grown to utilize discrete cells, and even after going public, their general operational structure will be to enable decentralized action. CCA troopers are trained to execute orders- whereas Troika are trained to achieve objectives.

Now, here's where it gets a bit messy. So the Troika will have a handful of generals at the top, determining overall strategy. But when you have hundreds of lieutenants directly below them, how best to communicate those strategic aims? Will they need to integrate another layer of command structure above the lieutenant level to keep things organized? Because of the decentralized nature of their organization, I'm not sure how something like that could be optimally organized- if at all.

One other note to share, regarding the Troika strategy after they go public.

Their forces will be generally divided into two categories.

One category will be primarily tasked with training, organizing, and leading the civilians as a rough militia force.

The second category will be primarily a combat unit, comprised of the trained soldiers and few to zero civilian recruits.

While the militia forces will see combat, they'll be in more of supportive or defensive roles, with the elite Troika units acting as spearhead assault and special operations forces.